Geography
Introduction Matope is the vast swamp that the Kimeti call home, and is also the looser term for the entire world, which the Kimeti know little of outside the margins of the swamp. Matope is located on a largely-unexplored continent's southernmost edge, and is shaped like an elongated penninsula jutting into a salt ocean. Approximately 800 miles from North to South, and roughly 1200 from East to West, only parts of Matope are inhabitable, the rest being comprised of rocky beaches to the East and West that harbor no intelligent life, and vast Sawgrass plains which are only sparsely populated. Biomes Matope has a surprisingly rich variety of environments to offer its inhabitants. Although the largest parts of the swamp are thick mangrove forests, there are swaths of marshy plains, sawgrass fields, cypress forests, and a variety of beaches and salt marshes. Mangrove Forests The mangrove forests of Matope are comprised of vast and ancient trees (the largest of which are sometimes called Grandmother or Grandfather trees) which are so large that their roots, rising above the water, can be easily walked under and around by even the largest Kimeti. These mazelike shelters are the closest most Kimeti ever come to having permanent homes, and the placid pools in which the mangrove grow tend to harbor large amounts of fish and other food, but also plenty of crocodiles in areas not too heavily-frequented by Kimeti. Marshes Matope's marshes are flat, wet areas, covered in reeds and watergrasses. Although the bed of the marshes is a sucking, thick mud that would prove difficult for most animals to navigate on, the Kimeti are at home here due to generations of adaptation. Marshes are largely devoid of larger plant life, but the occasional clump of stunted mangroves or cypress may be found. Some marshes have large, drier areas which might almost appropriately be called moors. The largest marsh in Matope is studded with small mangrove forests and is located in nearly the exact center of the penninsula, encompassing Ghostthistle's mound, which rises out of its center and is the Kimeti's primary meeting place during festivals or times of national strife. Sawgrass Plains Inhospitable and rugged, the sawgrass plains are to most Kimeti merely an obstacle between two more friendly areas. True to its name, sawgrass is a sharp-edged and painful plant, and when it grows in vast fields it presents an impediment to swift travel. Luckily, Kimeti are uniquely adapted to navigating these painful fields: the broad scales of thickened skin on their shoulders and faces help them push through the grass, and the thick, coarse fur on their hooves protects their skin--although it has an unfortunate tendency to pick up blades of grass and burrs that have to be removed later with a few vigorous swimming sessions. Cypress Forests Patches of tall, elegant cypress dot the Matopian landscape, mostly on hills. Although they grow too close together to afford shelter to full-grown Kimeti, they are not an uncommon place for foals, and some does make a point of laying eggs near their trunks, away from the crocodiles and other hazards of the wetter parts of the swamp. Beaches and Salt Marshes At its southernmost edge Matope spills out into the vast, unexplored ocean, the eastern and western edges being largely hemmed in with inpenetrable sawgrass plains and rocky coastlines. The southern coastline is a sandy stretch that emerges from a vast network of salty marshes which extends for some thirty miles north to south, and it harbors a few isolated clumps of mangroves. Primarily uninhabited by Kimeti, who view the landscape as too alien for their tastes, it nonetheless draws a hardy crowd led by Bitterleaf, a tribe called the Tidewalkers. The Borderlands At its northernmost edge is the part of the Matope called the Borderlands, rarely visited until recent events began unfolding there and calling the Kimeti northward. Moving north from the center of the swamp, a Kimeti encounters definite strata of landscape: first the swamp, and then upwards onto a very slightly higher elevation and drier land, where the mangroves and cypress give way to more maple and oak and fruit trees. This band of vegetation is home to large groups of Kimeti in the spring and summer, when food is lush and available, but fewer in the winter and fall, as this area attracts more snow and frost than the inner swamps. Continuing through this band of vegetation, one would find that it gives way gradually, trees becoming sparser, until it opens up on mudflats that stretch all the way to the horizon. In the summer, these mudflats grow hard and cracked under the sun; in the other seasons, they are an unforgiving fence of mire. Far away, on the horizon, the true borders of Matope are easily visible on a clear day: a ridge of hills rising from the mudflats, growing greener near the tops. In good weather it can be seen that the beautiful, uninterrupted waves of grass cover the hills from top to bottom. From the distance of the swamp's northernmost safe places, the grass along the top of the ridge is a constant wave, yellow-green. Beyond the hills? No one knows. But there are stories of other sorts of places, and Naming Dreams sometimes show vast plains, or sand deserts, or great snow-covered places of forbidding stone.